A tale of two halves unfolded on the baseball diamond Monday night, spurring a late inning rally to give Oregon State the series sweep.
Through six innings, fans weren’t given much to cheer about. But, the bout between the Beavers and Xavier Musketeers crescendoed at just the right time.
The Beavers capitalized off of a Musketeer collapse to earn a 7-2 victory in the final game of the series. The ballgame welcomed a modest crowd to Goss Stadium despite the brisk weather.
On the mound, Oregon State Junior Connor Mendez made his second start of the season. On the other side, Xavier junior Ashton Chronister got the nod from his coach.
Chronister, a 6-foot-8 left-handed pitcher, looked to have a tricky release for Beaver hitters. It turned out, tricky was an understatement
Following a 17-2 rout, defense shined early for both squads. Musketeer batters were able to get a bat on the ball with consistency, but a great diving play from third baseman Paul Vasquez and a nifty snag by shortstop Tyler Inge left the basepaths barren for Xavier.
At the plate for the Beavs, the unorthodox release from Chronister proved to be puzzling. In five innings of work, he allowed four runners. But, nothing came of it for Oregon State as nearly every hard-hit ball found its way to a Musketeer glove.
In the fourth inning, Clay Burdette gave the Musketeers just what they needed with a solo homerun. The one-run blast ended Burdette’s 0-10 drought in the series.
Mendez was then relieved in the fifth inning by Trey Morris, ending his day with four innings, one earned run, one hit and one walk.
On the mound, Morris stood strong, giving up one run in two innings of work. The Beavers were certainly alive only down two runs.
In the seventh inning the game flipped on its head.
In the top half, AJ Hutcheson relieved Morris. To start off the inning, a walk and sacrifice bunt put Xavier in the driver seat. Hitting batters on consecutive pitches backed Hutcheson into a corner.
Luckily, the defense continued to impress as Vazquez saved a run on a fielder’s choice to home plate. Following that was a huge strikeout to escape the jam. The seventh-inning stretch brought the fans to their feet. The ensuing at bats kept them there.
In the bottom half, Oregon State took the momentum and ran with it. Back-to-back walks from A.J. Singer and Jacob Krieg brought much needed noise to the dugout. A Vasquez bunt put the tying run into scoring position and suddenly Goss Stadium was buzzing.
Stepping into the box was Inge. In a 1-1 count, Inge pounced on a fastball, sending it flying to the right-center wall. The timely double cleared the bases and evened the score at 2-2.
Despite the frustrating start to the game, Inge was able to show up for his team. Inge credits his calm approach to “staying confident” and “making sure (he has) a plan.”
Turns out, confidence is contagious.
After Garret Helsel came in to relieve Karter Muck, an Easton Talt walk gave Xavier a glimpse of hope as they looked for a double-play ball.
A double steal from the Beavers took those dreams away immediately.
Adam Haight smelled blood as his one-out knock gave the Beavers the lead and put two runners in scoring position yet again. From there, it was all downhill for Xavier.
A perfectly placed blooper from Jacob Galloway brought in another runner and extended the Oregon State lead. Josh Proctor struck out. But, a dropped third strike-wild pitch combo allowed him to reach first and gave Haight a free pass to score.
Capping it off was a bad read on a fly ball by the right fielder which earned Bryce Hubbard an RBI single as Galloway jogged across home plate.
Xavier was able to get out of the inning. But, they found themselves behind by four with two innings left.
Zach Kmatz came in to relieve A.J. Hutcheson. Kmatz worked fast as he sat down three batters in order
Keeping up with the theme of free passes, the Beavers added an insurance run after Xavier’s catcher lost sight of another dropped third strike. During the scavenger hunt, Easton Talt was able to score all the way from second base, making the score 7-2.
In the top of the ninth with one out, Jack Giordano relieved Kmatz. Giordano got the job done with a strikeout and fielder’s choice to end the game.
The Beavers capped off the four game series sweep with an exciting comeback win. The 7-2 victory also extended their win streak to six games. In that span, they have scored 49 total runs. That is thirteen more than the first nine games of the season.
“I like it,” Head Coach Mitch Canham stated when asked about the hot streak.
Canham credited recent momentum to the team “starting to build (an) identity,” as young players begin to settle in.
Monday’s win puts Oregon State’s record at 11-4. The team carries their momentum into a four-day rest before traveling south to play University of San Diego this weekend.
